5.  The applicant was born in 1966. He is a practising lawyer and lives in Subotica, Serbia.
6.  The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.
7.  On 19 May 2004 the Police Department in Subotica appointed the applicant to represent D.G., a suspect in a preliminary criminal investigation, during his questioning by the police. The applicant provided no legal assistance to the suspect beyond this hearing.
8.  On the same day the applicant filed a request with the police, seeking payment of his fees in accordance with the Tariff issued by the Bar Association.
9.  Having received no response, on 13 September 2004 the applicant lodged a civil claim with the Municipal Court in Subotica, requesting that his fees be covered (7,800 Serbian Dinars, “RSD”, approximately 105 Euros, “EUR”, at the time, according to the exchange rate of the National Bank of Serbia).
10.  On 21 April 2005, the Municipal Court rendered a judgment in default (presuda zbog izostanka) in favour of the applicant. It thereby ordered the Police Department to pay him a total of RSD 18,800 (approximately EUR 230 at the time), on account of his fees and litigation costs, plus statutory interest.
11.  On 15 August 2005 the District Court in Subotica quashed this judgment on appeal.
12.  On 23 January 2006 the Municipal Court declared itself as lacking jurisdiction ratione materiae to consider the applicant’s claim on its merit (oglasio se stvarno nenadležnim za postupanje) and ordered the applicant to pay RSD 10,500 for litigation costs (approximately EUR 120 at the time).
13.  On 29 September 2006 the District Court confirmed this decision on appeal and it thus became final.
14.  Both the Municipal Court and the District Court reasoned, inter alia, that the fees in question were related to a preliminary criminal investigation, which was a specific kind of administrative proceedings, not a formal criminal procedure, and concluded that his claim was therefore not for the civil courts to determine. The police themselves, however, had had an obligation to decide upon the applicant’s request.
15.  On 13 November 2006 the applicant paid the litigation costs imposed against him.
16.  On 23 January 2008, on the grounds that he had misdirected his payment of 13 November 2006, the applicant was ordered once again to pay the litigation costs at issue plus statutory interest. By March 2009 the applicant therefore paid another RSD 18,068 (approximately EUR 190 at the time).
17.  On 31 July 2006 the Police Department in Subotica appointed the applicant to represent G.I., D.Č., V.Đ., B.Đ. and D.Đ., all suspects in a preliminary criminal investigation, during their questioning by the police.
18.  On the same day the applicant filed a request with the police, seeking payment of his fees in accordance with the Tariff issued by the Bar Association (in total RSD 12,960, approximately EUR 155 at the time).
19.  On 6 August 2008, 24 April 2009, 19 May 2009 and 1 June 2009 the Police Department in Subotica appointed the applicant to represent S.S., B.B., A.S., and D.J., all suspects in a preliminary criminal investigation, during their questioning by the police.
20.  On 11 August 2008, 11 May 2009, 21 May 2009 respectively the applicant filed a request with the police, seeking payment of his fees in accordance with the Tariff issued by the Bar Association (in total RSD 48,000, approximately EUR 500 at the time).